A Conversation with Salimata Sanfo

In the uber-competitive world of modelling, Salli Sanfo ’22 is fearless in the pursuit of showcasing her truest self. Despite having only a year of modelling experience, Sanfo has graced the pages of GQ, appeared alongside Telfar Clemens for Telfar, and attended New York Fashion Week. A full-time student by day, Sanfo hardly has time to rest in between classes, calls with her agent, and booking negotiations. From staging photos in her room and participating in ROCKET Magazine’s annual Astral fashion shoot to appearing on Telfar TV, Sanfo has come a long way in a remarkably short time — and she has no plans to stop anytime soon. I chatted with Sanfo over Zoom to hear her reflections on the progress she has made and the realities of pursuing a modelling career. The following conversation has been edited for clarity.

COURTESY IMAGE // SALIMATA SANFO

Linda Li: How did you start your modelling career?

Salli Sanfo: A very strange way. I tried to do it over quarantine — I got signed in Richmond last year, but they did nothing for me, and I dropped them in a few months. So I was kind of done; I was doing nothing. Then I posted a picture on my birthday of my Telfar bag — my pink one — and one of their CDs [Creative Directors] saw, and he was like, “Hey, we saw your picture on the internet. Do you want to shoot some stuff for Telfar?” And I was like “Yeah,” so they took me up, put me out, and I shot a campaign — the Telfar x UGG campaign — and that dropped. And from there, it’s kind of been running.

LL: So before that, you had never considered a modelling career?

SS: I’m tall, so I thought about it, but I don’t think at the time I had the confidence or really the drive for it. Also, my parents hated the idea. It was one of those things where you think about it, but you don’t even think to pursue [it] — I thought I’d waste my time doing that. It’s kind of like, “Oh, I’d love to do it one day.” I never thought that I would actually get the chance to suddenly think about it.

LL: Let’s talk more about the partnership with Telfar — it’s a big deal, right? Does it feel surreal to you?

SS: Always. Every day. There are days where I look around my room — I now have a lot of random Telfar stuff because I shoot for them so often — and I’ll just be like, “Wow.” So my bag — I think about it too often — I almost didn’t buy [it] because they’re expensive. I was like, “I don’t need this.” This time last year, I didn’t even have them yet. Telfar and the owners of the brand are really sociable, easygoing, and easy to speak to. What’s even crazier is working with a company this big that feels like family. Look at their work; [they] usually call back the same models. They usually have a very tight-knit family.

LL: Do you think what Telfar is doing represents breaking a new path in the industry?

SS: Very much yes. Usually, models are the least important part of a shoot. Several weeks ago, we were talking about how working in fashion pre- 2010 was super abusive, how models cried every single shoot, and [how] they’d be paid almost nothing. [Telfar] really values production — the models and the director too. It’s very much a communal thing — everyone gets a platform to feel respected and treated the way they deserve to be treated. That’s really rare in fashion.

LL: What was it like holding Telfar Clemens’ hand?

SS: Telfar is actually really easy-going. I spent a lot more time with him than I feel like people can see. It’s amazing, but it wears off after a while. And when people are down to earth, it’s usually easy to get comfortable. He acts so normal, you wouldn’t know.

LL: What do you think is the biggest barrier holding the industry back?

SS: Elitism. There’s this strong belief that the voices of a tiny, elite demographic are much more important than the voices of millions of people.

LL: Do you think the rise of social media influencers can combat elitism?

SS: Yes and no. I think we forget a lot of influencers are part of a team of elites. A lot of the influencers you follow on Instagram were born wealthy, living lifestyles where they can afford those tasks, to begin with. Adding influencers is not going to change anything; they’re already in the same cast of people. Influencing is a big sphere, and when it comes to fashion influencers, it’s a very small one. Most influencers are already White and wealthy.

LL: Outside of Telfar, when you’re partnering with a regular brand, you’re likely one of the few women of colour in a room. How do you deal with the inequity?

SS: You know, it’s weird. Telfar is a very Black brand — the models and all the teams are Black. Even on set Telfar has barbers, which are not very common in the industry. Now that I’m signed with a new agency and working with other brands, it’s very interesting to be the only Black girl or one of the few Black girls in a space — it’s new for me. I feel like I got spoiled with my first brand being Telfar. I got used to [how] everyone looked like me, and then I got to actual castings, actual events, actual parties, and you walk into this room with 300 girls, and there are 40 who are Black, and [among the] 40 Black girls, maybe five are dark-skinned. I feel like I’m learning now as I’m branching out, booking more work, and doing other things. I kind of saw it coming — everyone warned us about it.

COURTESY IMAGE // SALIMATA SANFO

LL: Now that you’ve signed on with a new agency, do you plan on turning modelling into a full-time career?

SS: Yeah, the plan is to go full-time. A lot of New York City agencies, especially the big ones, if you sign with them, you’re full time — you don’t have time to do anything else. So, it’s kind of building up to that right now, to prepare for that next step.

LL: How do you get to and from your bookings and events?

SS: Very chaotically. Literally, I get a text from somebody who’s like, “I need you here at this time for this period of time.” And I’m like, “Okay, we’re gonna go.” I think I’ve spent more time in New York this semester than I’ve spent here. It might drop a bit in December since fashion kind of shuts down in the winter, which is good for me personally because I just got re-signed and have to do a lot of new work.

LL: And finally, any advice for aspiring Black models?

SS: My advice would be just to do it. You don’t need everybody’s “yes” — you just need one “yes.” I’ve learned as a model that you don’t need everyone to love you. You need one person who really loves you — that is the key. I got so many “no’s” before I got here — like so many. At the end of the day, that wasn’t the path for me. This is the path for me. It’s weird because models are usually decided by agencies, but I got asked by a brand. I was dreaming about that happening to me as a kid, being scouted while I was walking or something. But for me, it was a brand, a brand that said “This is what we’re going to do.” That really changed my entire idea of what I needed.